Arena football coming to China

As Roger Goodell and the NFL explore ways to bring teams to London and Canada, the Arena Football League is selling China on football.

AFL Global, with the support of the Chinese government, is running a comprehensive training program starting in May with plans to further develop professional arena football in the country by Fall 2014. AFL Global has scheduled two exhibition games in two different cities, Beijing and Guangzhou, in October (Oct. 12, Oct. 19).

"We are very excited about this opportunity," said AFL Global CEO Martin E. Judge, who co-founded Global with ex-Eagle Ron Jaworski in 2012. "The Chinese market is huge. Our hope is to introduce an official six-team professional league that will begin regular season play in the Fall of 2014."

They are expecting 40-60 Chinese athletic coaches and officials to attend the training program in May, which will be presented by American football coaches and officials chosen by AFL Global. They are also in talks with the Beijing Sports University to build a stand-alone arena.